Vassal State
Tomorrow’s events:
Collective Journaling w/ Peter Limberg and Co-Hosts. Daily @ 8:00 AM ET. Patreon event. 90 mins.
Collective Presencing w/ Ria Baeck and Co-Hosts. Every Friday @ 8:00 AM ET. RSVP here. 90 mins.
Collective Presencing w/ Ria Baeck and Co-Hosts. Every Friday @ 12:00 PM ET. RSVP here. 90 mins.
Harmonizing to Emerge: A New Ecology of Practices w/ John Vervaeke, Daniel Thorson, and Seishin Todorović. October 8th @ 2:00 PM ET. RSVP here.
An event to maybe get excited about:
Playing The Flow Game: Sharing Questions, Vulnerability, and Wisdom w/ Amanda Zamparo. October 14th @ 12:00 PM ET. Patreon event.
The Flow Game is a process that creates a space for the collective consciousness to emerge through reflection, dialogue, and interactive learning. The intent is to bring flow into your life by asking a question that brings you life. Amanda Zamparo, a Stoan and flow host, will be hosting the session.
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October 7th, 2021
Here is something Charles Eisenstein said at The Stoa...
Even for the most fervent people there's also this cynicism where it just kind of doesn't all seem real, like we're stepping back from reality itself. Young people talk about derealization, walking through this cardboard world. It's like actors in a play who have lost their immersion in the drama and become more and more self-conscious that they're just acting out a role. This doesn't mean that we are permanently awakening from the human drama and rising above it.
What it means is that this particular drama is no longer worth our participation. We're like: no, this play is actually done. Why are we continuing to play these roles anymore? Let's find a better one. Imagine that we're all professional actors here, and we're like: this isn't really exercising my full talents as an actor; casting director, find me something else. We're all like, find me something else. Find me something that I can lose myself in - commit to sink my life into. Yeah, that is what we're looking for.
Camille and I watched this portion of Charles’ session on Monday night and we got teary-eyed. The words were beautifully channeled and resonated hard. Especially that line of finding something to lose ourselves in - to sink our lives into. Yeah, that is what we're looking for.
I am reminded of James Ellis’ session when he was dunking on modernity. He mentioned an article he wrote about the “global lobotomy,” a phenomenon whose symptoms include chronic brain fog, pathetic attention spans, and dampened emotional realities, similar to what Charles was getting at with his derealization comment.
I have been recently attracted to the word “vassal” and I sense it’s related. The definition: dependent; bondman; servant; slave. A “vassal state” is a state whose external affairs are wholly subordinate to a dominant state or empire. It is a state that does not enjoy full sovereignty. Are we each vassal states? If we are, who or what do we have vassalage to?
Some “hyperobject” perhaps - Timothy Morton’s term to describe “objects that are so massively distributed in time and space as to transcend spatiotemporal specificity.” Something like modernity, Empire, Game A, Moloch, or perhaps we could anthropomorphize/zoomorphize one of these hyperobjects and point the finger to some shadowy cabal of reptilians (aka a “pathocracy”).
If we are indeed vassal states, it could be good to have a coherent model of who we have vassalage towards. The Stoic in me does not think this is needed though, as it could be just another abstracted distraction that compresses reality in a depowering way. I do sense we’ll need to acknowledge the state we are in. The first step of Alcoholics Anonymous is for the alcoholic to admit they have a problem and that they feel a sense of powerlessness.
If we desire to become sovereign beings, the first step might be admitting we are in a state of vassalage. This vassalage feels most salient when I spend too much time on the computer, staring at this screen, consuming narratives that mess with my emotional reality. This is not aligned with the thing I am called to sink my life into.
I was talking to Daniel yesterday about all of this and he said Beyond Self-Discipline needs to put emphasis on mundane areas, as it is in mundane areas where vassalage sneaks in. Basically, the areas where we consider what to put in our bodies and minds. I sense most of us intuitively know this.
We intuitively know when our actions are in service to the interests of those who do not care about our interests, and when they are in service to “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible,” as Charles likes to say. The former is more like servitude, while the latter is the kind of service that makes us come alive in a way that is worth living for.
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